[meteorite-list] Speaking of Wisconsin Prices

From: Darren Garrison <cynapse_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 01 May 2010 13:42:06 -0500
Message-ID: <detot592k8k3g03bv26gh4c90vaj225eh5_at_4ax.com>

http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=281422

Meteorite hunters find fragments
People look for pieces across southwest Wisconsin. The going rate appears to be
about $5 to $10 per gram.
BY CRAIG D. REBER TH STAFF WRITER

LIVINGSTON, Wis. -- Livingston Village President Tom Brown found a small piece
of a meteorite earlier this week, according to a local businessman.

"I offered him a buck for it," said Tim Loeffelholz, of The Friendly Place, a
convenience store and popular hangout. Brown turned him down.

Shortly after a meteor exploded April 14 over southwest Wisconsin, hundreds of
people descended on the area, searching for fragments. Meteorite pieces now join
morels and turkeys as the objects of hunters, said the sales crew at Rural Route
1 Sales Shop in nearby Montfort. Spring turkey hunting season is under way, and
given favorable weather, morel mushrooms will soon sprout.

The going rate appears to be about $5 to $10 per gram, according to Tim "T.J."
Boldt, general manager of Pioneer Ford Mercury in Platteville, who found two
fragments on his farm.

He also said an Iowa-Grant Elementary School student found a fragment and sold
it for $1,500.

"It's been very interesting and very exciting," he said.

So have been the stories -- whether they've been told at Friendly's or Rural
Route 1, a popcorn retailer.

"9/11 -- people can remember where they
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were then," said Janet Stecklein, Rural Route 1 manager. "Now you can say,
'Where were you when the meteor hit?' It gives you something to talk about
besides the weather. It's been a once-in-a-lifetime thing."

Brynne Nodolf put a piece of the meteorite she found on her property on display
at Rural Route 1, and it's attracting attention. People bring their children and
grandchildren in to view a piece of history.

"I can't believe nobody got hit in the head," Stecklein said.

Money is luring the hunters. Midweek, Madison's WISC-TV Channel 3 was in the
area, doing a story about speculators buying fragments and reselling them on
eBay for profit.

Loeffelholz said there are still some meteorite hunters coming and going.

"The real serious guys had to get back to work," he said. "But at one time, it
was crazy. People were all over the place."
Received on Sat 01 May 2010 02:42:06 PM PDT